Container for the shipment of fractional car lots



June 23, 1931. F, FlLDEs 1,811,313

CONTAINER FOR THE SHIPMENT OF FRACTIONAL CAR LOTS Filed Oct. 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l Z Z 4 i g M A? l5 /fl /fl J z E /5 E2II 9 15 W Zfl 49/ gj {E5 )5? gwue'nto'c F A. F'Jdw 5M? m/w F. K. FILDES June 23, 1931.

CONTAINER FOR THE SHIPMENT OF FRACTI ONAL CAR LOTS Filed Oct. 28, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w m if a W F/r, 7 61M,

Clitoz nu Patented June 23, 1931 PATENT OFFICE FREDERICK K. FILDES, F ALTOONA, PENNSYLVANIA CONTAINER non THE SHIPMENT on rmorIonAL can LOTS Application filed October 28, 1930. Serial No. 491,800.

This invention relates tosheet metal containers of the kind used on rallway cars and automobile trucks for the shipment of goods to end on a single car and held loosely there on by special guides. The container is provided with adoor and with hooks or other devices'by means of which it may be lifted l bodily on and off the car. The container may be loaded by the consignor at his place of business and then taken by a truck and placed on a railway car together with other containers billed to various points. Upon reaching the point 'to which the particular container under consideration is billed, this container may be'taken from'the car tothe place of business ofthe'consignee and there unloaded, whereupon the empty container maybe returned to the'railroad. This procedure eliminates intermediate handling of the goods and may be desirable in other respects, but it is not practicable where one container carries a' plurality of consignments and even in those cases where the container carries. only one consignment, it is often more convenient to load the container or unload it while it is standing in place on the car. The object of the present invention, there'- fore, is to provide containers of this type with a door construction adapted to facilitate the loading and unloading thereof, particularly when these operations are-carried 4 out while the containers are supported on a railway car. For the attainment of this general object, the invention provides a container having a wide door opening in both sides with a double door for each opening composed of foldable leaves adapting the door to swing open in a relatively narrow space, such as that between cars standing side by side on adjacent tracks and between a car and a loading platform.

The invention will be described specifioperably connected to the lockin bolts of cally with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which Fig. 1 1s a side elevation of the container;

F ig 2 is a horizontal sectional view;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but show- 5. ing a door in open position; and

1g. 4 is a detail horizontal section view showing a hinge construction of the door.

The container is formed of sheet metal suitably secured to an angle iron frame. co However, the present invention is not concerned with the specific construction of the container and such details of the construction as are shown on the drawings are incidental and immaterial so far as the present invention is concerned, and therefore need not be referred to further.

In each side of the container is formed a wide door opening defined b side angle bars 10, a sill 12 and a to ar 11. The doors, both of which are 0 identical construction, are double doors, each being composed of two leaves respectively swung by the hinges '13 to the side frame bars 10. Each leaf comprises two sections A, B and A, B. Section A is adapted to swing outwardly on hinges 14 to lie with its outer face against the outer face of section B, and similarly section A is foldable on section B by means of hinges 15, as indicated in Fig. 4:. The door sections may be of hollowsheet metal construction such as shown in my copending application, Ser. No. 491,799, v filed Oct. 28, 1930, and may be provided with lockin mechanism of the kind also shown in sai application. The locking bolts of section A may be operated by a hasp 16 fast on the outerend of a shaft 18 which projects to the interior of section A and is i this section. The has'p is slotted or the reception of a staple'member 19 secured to section A and this member is formed with an aperture through which passes the hooked end of a bolt 20 which may be secured by a suitable padlock.

The hinges 13, by means of which the leaves are swun on the sides 10'of the door frame are pre erably double hinges, each being composed of two members respectively secured to the bar and to the door leaf and an intermediate, or link, member hinged to said members on vertical axes 22. The

center leaf sectionsA and A are narrower than the side sections B and B, sothat the inner faces of sections A and A are subment of fractional car load lots havin stantiall parallel to the sides of the container. in such positions it will be observed that there is a clear opening between the sides 10 of the door frame and also that the folded leaves are substantially within the planes of the end walls of the container. The construction therefore provides wide door openings having foldin doors that can be swung open within a, re atively narrow space and which in open positions will not interfere'with the opening of adjacent containers.

signature.

frame bar of the door opening and composed of a plurality of sections foldable on axes substantiallyparallel to the'hinge axis, the folded doors when in full .open position being within the planes .of t e ends of'said container.

In testimony whereof I' hereunto afiix my FREDERICK K. FILDES.

There are several important advantages I effected by the above described door construction. For example, the container can be unloaded from either side, which is highly desirable in view of the fact that it is not always practicable to know when placing a container on a car on which side of the track the unloading platform at the place of destination is located. Again, where cars carrying containers are lying side by side on double tracks at a platform, a container on the outer car can be unloaded through the registering o enings of a container on the inner car. ny number of the containers can be simultaneouslyloaded or unloaded, since the doors of a container can be swung, to open positions without interference; with the doors of adjacent containers.

Now having fully described the invention,

What is claimed as new is '1. A container for the shipment of fractional car load lots having registering door openin s in its two sides and a double door for eac opening, each of said doors being composed of two leaves respectively hinged to the sides of the door opening and each leaf comprisinga plurality of sections foldable on axes parallel to the hinge axes.

2. A-sheet metal container for the shipa door opening in each side thereof an a double door for each opening, each of said doors being composed of two leaves respectively hinged on vertical axes to the sides of the door; rame and each leaf comprising a plurality of sections foldableon vertical axes, the. folded doors when in fully open position being-within the planes of the ends of said container.

3. A container of. the class described havin registering door openin s in its two sides and door for each opening, each door 

